Muslim cleric booked for comments on Dimple Yadav; BJP questions Akhilesh’s silence

Uttar Pradesh Police have filed a case against a prominent Muslim cleric over his alleged objectionable remarks against Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav during a television debate.

 

Vibhuti Khand police filed the FIR against Maulana Sajid Rashidi on Sunday evening following a complaint by a local resident named Pravesh Yadav.

 

Rashidi, president of the All India Imam Association (AIIA), has been charged under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including Section 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc), and 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), among others.

 

Provisions under the Information Technology Act have also been invoked for the circulation of the content on digital platforms, reports said.

 

In a TV debate, the cleric commented inappropriately on Dimple’s attire during her recent visit to the Parliament Street Mosque.

 

Pravesh, in his complaint, alleged that Rashidi’s statements were not only derogatory and misogynistic but also highly provocative and aimed at inciting religious disharmony and communal tension.

 

The comments were an affront to a woman's dignity and appeared to be a deliberate attempt to provoke unrest, the complainant alleged, as per the FIR.

 

"He made extremely offensive, inflammatory, and anti-women remarks against honourable MP Mrs Dimple Yadav, wife of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, following her presence at a mosque on July 26," he alleged.

 

"Such statements hurt not only women's dignity but also threaten the unity, integrity, and peace of the nation," Pravesh said. 

 

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) members on Monday staged a protest at the Makar Dwar of Parliament against the cleric’s remarks. The BJP also questioned the silence of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav over the issue.

 

Dimple, however, mocked the NDA protests and said it would have been better if they had stood with the women of Manipur.

 

“It would have been better had they stood with the women of Manipur. The way the leaders of the BJP gave statements on our army officers during Operation Sindoor, it would have been better if they (NDA) stood with them,” she said.

India